On March 24 Durham College (DC)’s Youth, Justice and Interventions program (YJI) hosted the 10th annual Youth Justice Symposium in partnership with Victim Services Durham Region (VSDR). Each year, a topic impacting young Canadians is selected as the focus of the event. This year’s chosen issue was Human Trafficking Prevention, identified by VSDR as an important subject for youth aged 12 to 15 to understand.

YJI students were tasked with developing a curriculum for grades 7 to 10 which addressed gender empowerment, internet safety, healthy relationships and human trafficking. They also created lesson plans and activities to facilitate teaching and learning about human trafficking, garnering strong positive feedback from participants. In fact, the symposium was viewed online in classrooms across the Durham and Kawartha regions by 9,000 students and more than 500 educators and principals.

“Our Youth, Justice and Interventions program students were so excited to see the results of their work come together with such success,” says Joanne Spicer, interim associate dean, School of Justice and Emergency Services. “Not only do they achieve the sense of accomplishment that comes from developing and running a conference, but they also learn the importance of working as a team, fostering collaborative community relationships and delivering an impactful event.”

YJI participants left with the knowledge that their contributions and efforts for the symposium have directly and positively impacted the lives of the attendees, helping make a better future. DC is proud of the successful community partnership and would like to recognize the impressive efforts of the YJI program students who worked so diligently to improve the community by raising awareness on the threat of human trafficking and the actions that help to prevent it.